The technology relates to a surrounding risk displaying apparatus that displays, in the form of an image, a risk present in the surroundings of a vehicle such as an automobile.
To obviate an accident and thereby increase safety of a vehicle such as an automobile, a technique is desired that sequentially recognizes factors of various risk objects by means of various devices such as sensors, and conveys, to a user such as a driver, a level of a risk potential of each of the risk objects. The risk potential varies continuously depending on a traveling situation and a surrounding situation while the vehicle travels. Examples of the risk objects may include another traveling vehicle, a stopped vehicle, a pedestrian, a cyclist, a building, and terrains which are present in the surroundings of the own vehicle. Examples of the factor of the risk object may include a position and a velocity of the risk object both relative to the own vehicle.
As techniques that convey information on the surrounding risk to the user such as the driver, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2011-70686 and No. 2007-182224 each disclose a vehicle driving operation assist apparatus that conveys a risk potential to the driver by means of touch information and visual information. The touch information involves the use of reaction force upon operation of an accelerator pedal. The visual information involves the use of image display by means of a head-up display (HUD). The vehicle driving operation assist apparatus displays contour lines that join parts that are equal in risk potential. The risk potential indicates a degree of approaching between the own vehicle and an obstacle present ahead of the own vehicle.
JP-A No. H10-211886 discloses a vehicle steering apparatus that allows a driver to recognize a situation around an own vehicle by suppressing the steering in accordance with a degree of risk. The vehicle steering apparatus detects obstacles around the own vehicle such as other vehicles by means of radar or any other device, and determines a risk potential of each of the obstacles, on the basis of information on a relative motion of each of the detected obstacles, such as other vehicles, relative to the own vehicle. The thus-determined risk potentials are each displayed in the form of contour lines.